150 



VEGETABLE GROWING. 



This vegetable is rapidly becoming a money crop 

 for the South ; although it can be grown in gardens of 

 the North, it does not flourish to such an extent as it 

 does in the South. The greatest obstacle in the way 

 of success for this crop is that the gardeners rarely 

 ever supply enough fertilizer to the soil. A success- 

 ful grower in Florida began by raising ten acres, but 

 did not make a profit on the crop ; he then re- 

 duced his acreage to five, and used the same amount 

 of fertilizer that he put on the ten acres before. Later, 



FIG. 20. 



he again cut down the acreage to two and one-half 

 acres, but kept the amount of fertilizer at the original 

 figure, and also bestowed as much attention to the two 

 and one half acres as he did formerly on the ten acres. 

 The two and one- half acres then gave him more fruit 

 of a better quality, and a better size, than on the orig- 

 inal ten acres, and at the same time the field became 

 profitable. This instance illustrates a point that has 

 been insisted upon before ; that is, we should resort 

 to intensive, rather than extensive vegetable growing. 



